'The US landed in this war without planning. The US felt that if they kill Ayatollah Khamenei the people of Iran will come out on the roads and do a regime change.' 'On the contrary, the US bombings on Iran has united the entire nation.'
Pakistani authorities on Monday claimed that seven people were killed and six others sustained serious injuries on Saturday in Indian drone attacks and firing in Gujrat city of Punjab province.
The Border Security Force (BSF) is raising a maiden 'drone squadron' for deployment along the India-Pakistan border. The squadron will comprise reconnaissance, surveillance and attack drones and specially-trained personnel.
The purge in Washington does not pause the war. Strikes continue, Hormuz remains closed, and Brent crude is still dancing around $109 a barrel. For India, the command chaos in the Pentagon is another layer of uncertainty piled on five weeks of conflict that was already straining every buffer Delhi has.
He also criticised the possible succession of the son of the late supreme leader of the Islamic Republic, Mojtaba Khamenei, who is widely viewed as a leading contender for the position.
Trump has made it clear: the US will not lift its blockade of Iranian ports until a deal is signed.
The Bahrain Grand Prix and Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in the Formula One 2026 calendar are likely to be cancelled due to escalating Middle East tensions, with a final decision expected soon.
'Will he be on Europe and Ukraine's side? Or will he decide that Russia is more important for America?'
The intriguing bit is that Trump is likely to attend the talks in Islamabad this weekend -- if he does, it will be the clearest signal yet that the US is ready to exit the war with some sort of win to show, since he cannot afford to go for the talks and return empty-handed, notes Prem Panicker in his must read blog on the Iran War
Far from it; the country's resistance to the US, its nuclear ambitions, and its pursuit of influence and proxies across the Middle East are driven by a constant search for independence and security. Thus, Iran will never capitulate. Trump will learn this home truth ultimately, and it is going to be a humbling personal experience that may even destroy his presidency, predicts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said that the country believes that dialogue and negotiation are the only viable solutions to resolving disputes and that the continued escalation of the conflict serves no one's interests.
The 'rescue' operation occurred within kilometres of Iran's underground tunnel complex at Isfahan, assessed by the IAEA and US intelligence as holding a substantial portion of the country's 60 per cent enriched uranium stockpile. Retired senior US military officers have highlighted that the mission's footprint -- hundreds of special operators, multiple heavy-lift aircraft deep inside Iran -- appears outsized for recovering a single airman. Prem Panicker continues his must read blog on the Iran War.
Amid rising tensions, Iran threatens retaliation after the United States confirms sinking its warship, IRIS Dena, in international waters, escalating conflict in the region.
'No civilian deserves to live in fear. No civilian deserves to be caught up in a war which is destabilising the entire region.'
United States drones struck in Pakistan's restive Waziristan tribal region for the third consecutive day on Thursday, killing seven suspected terrorists, officials said.
Dubai's core promise -- that it is an oasis untouched by regional storms -- has been tested in full public view. The coming months will show whether investors view the attacks as a short-lived disruption or a deeper signal of lasting risk, points out Asif Ullah Khan.
Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz chief Nawaz Sharif, who is poised to become Pakistan's new prime minister, on Monday said he wanted to strengthen his country's testy ties with the United States but insisted that the Central Intelligence Agency's controversial drone attacks must end as they posed a "challenge" to national sovereignty.
United States President Donald Trump on Friday declared that there would be 'no deal with Iran except unconditional surrender' amid the escalating West Asia conflict, asserting that Tehran must capitulate before any diplomatic negotiations can proceed.
Even as the benchmark and broader indices were down sharply on Monday due to escalating tensions in West Asia, the Nifty Defence index ended the session in the green.
16 days into the war, US forces were already running out of ground-attack missiles and Israel is about to expend its entire Arrow interceptor missiles by end March. To be sure, the Iranians are watching closely and that explains their defiant stance that 'Iran will end the war when it decides to do so and when its conditions are met', notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Both sides have now revealed a preference for escalation over strategic defeat, and each new provocation narrows the space for the next pause. The Touska seizure, Iran's refusal to negotiate under blockade, Israel's strikes on Iranian oil infrastructure -- all of these add up to an increasingly untenable situation. This makes the wild card -- Trump and his motormouth -- more consequential than ever, notes Prem Panicker in his must read blog on the Iran War.
'In such a scenario, Iran could proclaim itself victor, rebuild, re-enforce its diminished regional proxies to further destabilise neighbouring nations and take control of the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz.'
'Moments like this remind us how fragile life really is.'
Four persons were killed when a United States drone targeted a house in the restive North Waziristan tribal region of northwest Pakistan on Wednesday, the first such attack since November last year.
A Pakistan minister refuted social media reports about the conclusion of the operation against Afghan Taliban, stating that the operation is continuing with full intensity.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has called for a negotiated settlement with Iran and deployed additional fighter jets to West Asia to strengthen the UK's defensive operations.
Taking Kharg would give the US control over virtually all of Iran's oil exports and thus provide significant leverage, notes Prem Panicker in his must read daily blog on the Gulf War. It would also put American troops within range of Iran's remaining missiles, drones, and artillery on a piece of real estate that is just eight square miles in size, and just 15 miles from the Iranian mainland.
The call came before Iran's new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei vowed vengeance and urged citizens to continue their fight against the attacks by US and Israel.
The United States will not stop its drone attacks in Pakistan's tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, President Barack Obama's top military officer has said, according to a report.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged its citizens to immediately depart from several Middle Eastern countries, citing "serious safety risks."
In a major setback to Taliban, missiles fired from US drones have killed its top commander and group's deputy chief Qari Hussain Mehsud, mastermind of many suicide attacks across Pakistan, sources claimed on Friday.
The United States Special Forces have rescued the second F-15 crew member alive, who went missing after Iran downed the jet amid the West Asia conflict, President Donald Trump has confirmed.
The Indian Navy's 'mission deployed' guided missile destroyer INS Visakhapatnam responded to the attack within an hour of receiving a distress call from the vessel Genco Picardy, they said.
'The next two to three weeks will not be decided in Washington.' 'They will be decided in Tehran, in whatever calculation Iran makes about the costs of continued resistance against the costs of appearing to have yielded.'
The question is no longer whether the war will expand. It has. The next few days will tell us whether the war stabilises around Hormuz or whether the Strait itself becomes the trigger for a far larger rupture. What to watch for over the next 48 hours is simple: Any move by the US toward direct naval control of the Strait; any credible Iranian attempt to disrupt or mine shipping lanes and, critically, whether energy infrastructure in the Gulf continues to be targeted.If those lines are crossed in tandem, the war will no longer be containable within the region.
In 2024, Russia made only modest territorial gains, controlling about 18% of Ukraine, while suffering massive casualties and equipment losses.
'So far our production is not affected. But every day the situation prolongs, it does bring risks in terms of shipments getting delayed.'
'The entire US ecosystem built over decades at the bases in the Gulf region, especially the UAE, costing trillions of dollars have been decimated, dealing a mortal blow to the US Central Command's war capability,' points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
A top Al Qaeda leader allegedly responsible for the deaths of as many as seven Central Intelligence Agency agents in a suicide bombing last December has been reportedly killed in a drone attack, media reports said. Several US media outlets reported that Hussein al-Yemini, the man said to be responsible for the CIA bombing, was apparently killed in a drone attack in Miran Shah area of Pakistan on March 8.
Officials were quoted by TV news channels as saying that the drone fired one missile at the militant training centre located near Makeen in South Waziristan Agency, a stronghold of the militant commander Mehsud.
